Can the former South Works overcome the current South Side’s baggage?

The 440-acre South Works site has been vacant since 1992. Photo by Chicago Lakeside Development.

Crain’s Chicago Business cites data from UIC’s Great Cities Institute on Chicago neighborhood violence in a story about the challenges of developing the former South Works steel plant.

Still, finding buyers and renters in the immediate vicinity won’t be easy. Demand will depend largely on how much their homes sell or rent for, which are unknowns at this point.

Violent crime is a problem, too. In South Shore and South Chicago, the homicide rate was more than twice as high as the city average of 8.42 per 10,000 residents from 2011 to 2015, according to the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago.